Eidevall reveals tactics behind Villa comeback

After falling behind to Aston Villa on Sunday, Jonas Eidevall made a number of tactical changes to inspire a second-half comeback. 

This generated an improved attacking performance following the restart with vital goals from Victoria Pelova, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Stina Blackstenius. 

"Me and the assistant coaches took some time before we went into the dressing room at half-time," said our head coach in his post-match press conference. "The first half was not a bad performance, it is a bad result. It was a result that goes against the state of play. We had control even if we didn’t create so many chances. We were unlucky to go 1-0 down, but then we changed two things. 

"Villa were really, really compact in their organisation in their 5-3-2. It was really important to attack on one side with a structure and start dragging their 10s out on that side and then, with speed and determination, go over on the other side. That was where we would open them up. Once we got that clarity in the second half, we dragged them out and changed the point of attack and started to create some really clear chances. 

"The other thing we spoke about was that Villa really wanted to play out from the back. When you win the ball in those moments against a low block, we needed to be much more forward oriented when you win the ball in these pressing situations and try to create from that. We did that really well in the second half as well. At times when you are 1-0 down, you want to try to put over so much information but I think experience told me and the team, in these situations, it’s important to get the details right that we really need to focus on what is going to make a difference."

After a frustrating first half, it would have been easy to look back and reflect on what we'd just seen, but Eidevall opted for a different approach with his players.

"We said let’s not review what happened in the first half, let’s look into the future and paint a picture of what is going to be for us to be successful. I think we did that well, big credit to the players because they problem solved, they were solution oriented, cool under pressure in the second half. We were so methodical and we kept on believing that if we didn’t convert, we would create more chances. That was a really high performing team in a pressure situation.

"I make a conscious choice to think ‘on the next chance, we will score.’ A conscious choice I make to stay optimistic, if it is 1-1 in the 92nd minute, I make a conscious choice to believe we will win the game and believe 100% in that. I want the players and the rest of the staff to believe the same way. I don’t think you should accept any other way of thinking in those moments. That can be hard in those moments because your mind might go into that, to say, ‘it’s one of those days.’ You don’t let the mind go. Always stay positive, positive reinforcement because that maximises the chances of winning."